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Invited Commentary
Nov 26, 2012

The Promise of Primary Care–Based Screening for Diabetic Retinopathy: The Devil Will Be in the Details
Comment on “Telemedicine and Retinal Imaging for Improving Diabetic Retinopathy Evaluation”

Author Affiliations

Author Affiliations: Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (Dr Daskivich); and Division of General Internal Medicine/Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (Dr Mangione).

Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(21):1678-1680. doi:10.1001/2013.jamainternmed.406

Diabetes, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and the leading cause of new cases of blindness in adults, affects more than 25 million people, or 8.3% of the population.1 Currently, only 60% of persons with diabetes receive standard-of-care screening examinations for retinopathy, and the number is even lower in the safety net.2,3 Given that the projected increase in the prevalence of diabetes will increase the demand for screening examinations, we must identify alternative ways to screen for diabetic retinopathy (DR).

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